State Dept cable 1974-269118

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Message Text

SECRET

PAGE 01 STATE 279808
47

ORIGIN SS-10

INFO OCT-01 ISO-OO SSO-OO CCO-OO NSCE-00 /01 1 R
66605

DRAFTED BY: S/S-0:PJOHNSON
APPROVED BY: S/S-0:PJOHNSON

006089

O 211618Z DEC 74 ZFF4
FM SECSTATE WASHDC

TO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE
SECRET STATE 279808
EXDIS TOSEC 21

FOLLOWING REPEAT BEIRUT 15234 SENT ACTION SECSTATE
DECEMBER 21ST:

QUOTE SECRET BEIRUT 15234

E.O. 11652: XGDS-1
TAGS: PFORUSLE

SUBJECT: LEBANESE/AMERICAN RELATIONS

SUMMARY: TAQLA THREATENS TO RESIGN UNLESS EITHER I ABSENT
MYSELF FROM BEIRUT DURING FRANGIE'S DEC. 31 RECEPTION OR A
BANAL LETTER IS RECEIVED FROM PRESIDENT FORD PRIOR TO THE
RECEPTION. END SUMMARY.

1. AT 10:30 A.M. THIS MORNING (DEC. 21) FOREIGN MINISTER
TAQLA RECEIVED ME AT FOREIGN MINISTRY. I REPORTED TO HIM IN
GENERAL TERMS REGARDING MY VISIT TO WASHINGTON AND RESULTS OF
INVESTIGATION OF SNIFFING INCIDENT. POINTED OUT UNDEFINED
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION HAD BEEN TAKEN REGARDING THOSE CONCERNED
AND THAT INSTRUCTIONS HAD BEEN ISSUED MODIFYING PROCEDURES
RELATING TO RECEPTION OF PROMINENT VISITORS TO NEW YORK.

2. TAQLA PLEASED BUT THEN REVERTED TO QUESTION OF LETTER FROM
PRESIDENT FORD. HE REFERRED TO HIS CONVERSATION WITH CHARGE

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HOUGHTON REPORTED EMBTEL 14827 AND PRESSED STRONGLY ON THIS

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

POINT, INDICATING THAT LETTER NEED NOT RPT NOT CONTAIN ANY
APOLOGY BUT MERELY INDICATE THAT OUR PRESIDENT AWARE OF ACTIONS
TAKEN BY SECRETARY FOLLOWING NEW YORK INCIDENT. I TOLD TAQLA
THAT I WOULD REPORT HIS VIEWS BUT THAT I DID NOT BELIEVE SUCH A
LETTER WOULD BE FORTHCOMING. I POINTED OUT THAT SECRETARY HAD
EXPRESSED HIS REGRETS AND THAT HE HAD ALSO INSTITUTED INVESTI
GATION AND HAD INFORMED FORIGN MINISTER OF ITS RESULTS. TAQLA
THEN SAID HE FULLY APPRECIATED EVERYTHING THAT HAD BEEN DONE AND
THAT IF THIS WERE A "NORMAL" SITUATION, HE CERTAINLY WOULD NOT
DREAM OF REQUESTING ANYTHING MORE AND HE WOULD CONSIDER THE
MATTER CLOSED. HE THEN SAID, HOWEVER, THAT THIS WAS NOT A
"NORMAL" SITUATION, IN VIEW OF "A PERSONALITY" INVOLVED, AND
THE MAGNITUDE THIS INCIDENT HAD ASSUMED IN "THE INDIVIDUAL’S"

MIND AND IN THE LOCAL POLITICAL SCENE. THE PRESS HAD HAD A
FIELD DAY AND IT HAD ONLY BEEN WITH THE GREATEST OF DIFFICULTY
THAT HE, TAQLA, HAD BEEN ABLE TO REDUCE ITS POLITICAL IMPACT ON
THE INTERNAL LEBANESE SCENE AND TO MODERATE PRESS TREATMENT OF
VARIOUS AND SUNDRY POLITICIANS ON THIS SUBJECT. TAQLA UNDERSTOOD
THE FACT THAT PRESIDENT FORD COULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO APOLOGIZE
BUT IF HE COULD JUST TAKE NOTE OF WHAT THE SECRETARY HAD DONE.

THIS WOULD SETTLE THE MATTER ONCE AND FOREVER.

3. TAQLA THEN MENTIONED THE FACT THAT DCM HOUGHTON WOULD BE
MOST CORDIALLY WELCOMED AT PRESIDENT S RECEPTION DEC. 31
(LEBANESE "EVACUATION DAY COMMEMORATING THE WITHDRAWAL OF
FOREIGN TROOPS IN 1945). HE EXPRESSED APPRECIATION OF OUR
UNDERSTANDING AND ASSURED ME THAT THIS WOULD LEAD TO AN EXTREMELY
EARLY SOLUTION OF -THE PROBLEM" I.E., FR ANGIE WOULD RECEIVE ME

BY JAN 15.1 TOLD TAQLA THAT I THOUGHT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO
QUESTION OF HOUGHTON REPRESENTING US AT THE PRESIDENT S RECEPTION.

HE THEN SAID HE HAD UNDERSTOOD THIS HAD BEEN AGREED TO BETWEEN
HIM AND HOUGHTON AND BETWEEN KABBANI AND ME. I TOLD HIM THAT
QUITE TO THE CONTRARY, KABBANI AND I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO UNDER-
STANDING ON THIS MATTER AND THAT I HAD MADE NO RPT NO SUCH COMMIT-
MENT. I WOULD DISCUSS THIS MATTER WITH HOUGHTON IMMEDIATELY
UPON MY RETURN TO MY OFFICE, BUT I WAS QUITE SURE HE HAD MADE
NO COMMITMENT. (HOUGHTON NOTES HE NEVER TOLD TAQLA WHAT I
WOULD DO ON DEC 31. HE INDICATED TO KHALIL HADDAD THAT HE
WOULD INFORM ME OF THIS POSSIBILITY BUT COULD NOT COMMIT ME ON
WHAT WOULD BE DONE.) I TOLD TAQLA THAT I WOULD REPORT WHAT
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HE HAD TOLD ME BUT THAT I UNDERSTOOD THAT THE INSTRUCTIONS RE
THE NOV. 22 RECEPTION STILL STOOD - I.E., EITHER THE AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT IS REPRESENTED BY ITS AMBASSADOR OR ELSE BY NO ONE.

4. TAQLA WAS VISIBLY MOST UPSET AND DISTRESSED. HE SAID THAT IT
HAD ALWAYS BEEN HIS UNDERSTANDING THAT I WOULD TACTFULLY ABSENT
MYSELF FROM LEBANON DURING THE PRESIDENT'S RECEPTION AND THAT THE
CHARGE WOULD REPRESENT THIS MISSION. HE CONTINUED THAT IF NO

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

RPT NO AMERICANS WERE PRESENT AT THE RECEPTION, THIS WOULD REOPEN
THE ENTIRE QUESTION IN LEBANESE POLITICAL CIRCLES AND IN THE PRESS.

IN VIEW OF EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE SO FAR IN AN EFFORT TO SOLVE THIS
PROBLEM, HIS ONLY RECOURSEWOULD BE TO RESIGN AS FOREIGN MINISTER
AND LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY WOULD. WHILE HE WAS OBVIOUSLY
EMOTIONALLY UPSET, I AM CONVINCED THIS IS NO IDLE THREAT. IN
TAQLA'S OWN MIND, HE IS CONVINCED HE HAS DONE HIS UTMOST AND IT
IS A FACT THAT THIS WHOLE AFFAIR HAS CAUSED HIM NOT ONLY
PERSONAL ANGUISH BUT ALSO HAS RESULTED IN CRITICISM OF HIM
NOT ONLY IN THE PRESS BUT BY FRIENDS. WHILE TAQLA HAS NO POLITICAL
AMBITION HE NEVERTHELESS IS A PROUD MAN WHO BELIEVES HE IS
SERVING AS FOREIGN MINISTER ONLY FOR PATRIOTIC REASONS AND IN
AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE CONDUCT OF HIS COUNTRY'S INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS.

5. IT IS IN NO ONE’S(EXCEPT OUR ENEMIES’) INTEREST TO HAVE
THIS SITUATION CONTINUE. THE BASE OF THE PROBLEM IS STILL THE
SAME— I.E., A STUBBORN, PROUD, UNSOPHISTICATED MOUNTAINEER
WHO HAPPENS TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE LEBANON. HE HAS DEFINITELY
SUFFERED POLITICALLY FROM HIS STUBBORNNESS ON THIS MATTER,

BUT HE IS STILL THE PRESIDENT AND HAS THE POWER TO DECIDE WHO
WILL ENTER HIS HOME. WHILE THOUGHTFUL LEBANESE CRITICIZE THEIR
PRESIDENT'S CONDUCT, THEY ALSO APPRECIATE AND UNDERSTAND WHAT
OUR GOVERNMENT HAS DONE IN AN EFFORT TO CONCLUDE AMICABLY THIS
TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT.

6. THERE ARE OBVIOUSLY TWO ALTERNATIVES: EITHER PRESIDENT FORD
IN A BRIEF LETTER, TO BE DELIVERED BY ME AT DEC. 31 RECEPTION,

INDICATE HIS AWARENESS OF WHAT THE SECRETARY HAS DONE TO
ASSUAGE FRANGIE'S SENSIBILITIES OR I ABSENT MYSELF FROM LEBANON
DURING THE BRIEF PERIOD OF THE PRESIDENT'S RECEPTION. THERE IS,

OF COURSE, A THIRD POSSIBILITY-I.E., THAT WE STAND BY OUR GUNS
AND THAT THERE BE NO LETTER AND NO AMERICAN AT THE PRESIDENT'S

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PAGE 04 STATE 279808

RECEPTION. I TRUST THAT THIS THIRD POSSIBILITY WILL BE
REJECTED SUMMARILY FOR IT WOULD ONLY RESULT IN CONTINUED
UNPLEASANTNESS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF BASIC US/LEBANESE RELATIONS.

IT IS DISTASTEFUL TO ACQUIESCE TO THE DEMANDS OF THE FIERCE

PRIDE OF A LEADER OF A FRIENDLY STATE. I BELIEVE HOWEVER

THAT WE ARE GREAT ENOUGH TO DO SO AND WOULD COME OUT EVEN GREATER

IN THE LONG RUN.

7. (A) THE CONS OF EITHER ALTERNATIVES 1 OR 2 ARE THAT WE
WOULD ACQUIESCE TO FRANGIE’S PRIDE. ALSO SOME LEFTIST
ELEMENTS HERE WOULD BRIEFLY CROW.

7. (B) THE PROS ARE THAT WE WOULD BRING A SPEEDY CONCLUSION TO
THIS RIDICULOUS MATTER, OUR COUNTRY WOULD BE GREATER FOR IT IN
THE EYES OF THE VAST MAJORITY OF THOUGHTFUL LEBANESE, AND WE

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

WOULD KEEP AS FOREIGN MINISTER ONE OF LEBANON'S MOST PRO-
AMERICAN AND MOST QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS.

8. AS FOR PREFERENCE BETWEEN ALTERNATIVES 1 OR 2, 1
BELIEVE THE EASIEST WOULD BE FOR ME TO CONSULT WITH AMBASSADOR
MURPHY IN DAMASCUS DURING THE TIME OF THE PRESIDENT'S
RECEPTION-I.E., BE ABSENT FROM LEBANON FOR ABOUT EIGHT HOURS.

THIS WILL, OF COURSE, RESULT IN SOME COMMENT BUT INFINITELY
LESS THAN HAVING NO AMERICAN AT THE RECEPTION AND TAQLA'S
RESIGNING.

GODLEY

UNQUOTE SISCO

SECRET

NNN

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Message Attributes

Automatic Decaptioning: Z
Capture Date: 01 JAN 1994
Channel Indicators: n/a
Current Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Concepts: FOREIGN RELATIONS, CUSTOMS COURTESIES, DIPLOMATIC ULTIMATUM, DIPLOMATIC PROTESTS, DIPLOMATIC
COMMUNICATIONS, TOSEC 21

Control Number: n/a
Copy: SINGLE
Draft Date: 21 DEC 1974
Decaption Date: 28 MAY 2004
Decaption Note: 25 YEAR REVIEW
Disposition Action: RELEASED
Disposition Approved on Date:

Disposition Authority: ElyME
Disposition Case Number: n/a
Disposition Comment: 25 YEAR REVIEW
Disposition Date: 28 MAY 2004
Disposition Event:

Disposition History: n/a
Disposition Reason:

Disposition Remarks:

Document Number: 1974STATE279808

Document Source: CORE

Document Unique ID: 00

Drafter: OiPJOHNSON

Enclosure: n/a

Executive Order: XI

Errors: N/A

Film Number: D740372-0344
From: STATE
Handling Restrictions: n/a
Image Path:

ISecure: 1

Legacy Key: Iink1974/newtext/t19741216/aaaaanri.tel

Line Count: 182

Locator: TEXT ON-LINE, ON MICROFILM
Office: ORIGIN SS
Original Classification: SECRET
Original Handling Restrictions: EXDIS
Original Previous Classification: n/a
Original Previous Handling Restrictions: n/a
Page Count: 4

Previous Channel Indicators:

Previous Classification: SECRET
Previous Handling Restrictions: EXDIS
Reference: n/a

Review Action: RELEASED, APPROVED
Review Authority: ElyME
Review Comment: n/a
Review Content Flags:

Review Date: 03 JUL 2002
Review Event:

Review Exemptions: n/a

Review History: RELEASED <03 JUL 2002 by martinmb; APPROVED <31 MAR 2003 by ElyME>

Review Markings:

Declassified/Released
US Department of State
EO Systematic Review
30 JUN 2005

Review Media Identifier:

Review Referrals: n/a
Review Release Date: n/a
Review Release Event: n/a
Review Transfer Date:

Review Withdrawn Fields: n/a
Secure: OPEN
Status: NATIVE

Subject: LEBANESE/AMERICAN RELATIONS SUMMARY: TAQLA THREATENS TO RESIGN UNLESS EITHER I ABSENT
TAGS: PFOR, PDIP, US, LE
To: USUN NEW YORK
Type: TE

Markings: Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005

Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005